The higher education complex is truly complex, and that could account for its resistance to change. From its large stadium seating lecture halls to its more intimate classrooms and labs, the brick and mortar model of the college and university experience has not significantly changed for generations. The coronavirus outbreak, however, has forced these same institutions to throw open their doors and create virtual learning experiences. It’s now not a matter of responding to the crisis by embracing the brave new virtual world to reach students in the hi-tech world in which they live.  It’s now an economic imperative. Online learning, the stepchild of the traditional higher education experience, has now become Cinderella, the belle of the ball.

The best comparison to understand online learning’s previously adversarial relationship with brick and mortar learning is the Amazon vs. retail establishments relationship. “Mail order” was always thought to be the place you ordered fruit cake or something from the Sears Roebuck catalogue. The advent of the internet opened up more possibilities, but no one took it seriously. In 1995, eBay became a national flea market, but a year earlier, Amazon was born as a national online bookstore. It wasn’t long before Amazon took a bite out of brick and mortar bookstores like Barnes and Noble. But other retailers didn’t see Amazon as a threat to their bottom line. Afterall, Amazon couldn’t sell shoes or clothes or food online – except they could, and they did, wildly successfully. Retail is now in the throes of adjustment and change, embracing the online presence that they once shunned.

Now, the higher education industry is facing the same (virtual) reality. The first software was developed for online learning in 1986. What followed in the 90’s were what were called “correspondence courses.” These courses and schools that offered them were not a brick and mortar operations and were quickly derided by traditional higher ed institutions. And when these same schools offered full degree programs, it got worse. The push back from traditional schools was harsh. These degrees were not considered up to higher ed standards. And to be honest, some of them weren’t, but those that were worked hard to win respectability. Even as the virtual schools improved and became accredited, brick and mortars in general resented their intrusion and thought of these schools as diploma factories. Then 2008 happened, and enrollment in “traditional” schools started to drop. Many prospective students (either newly unemployed or recent high school graduate) could not afford student loans and spending years in a traditional learning environment. They were looking for a quick and less expensive path to acquire the skills to hit the ground running in a new career. Community colleges were one of the beneficiaries of this economic trend; online learning (where students could work full time and could create their own learning schedule) was the other. By 2016, when the Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics issued a report that showed that while overall postsecondary enrollment decreased by close to 100,000 students, from fall 2016 to fall 2017 – confirming data previously published by the National Student Clearinghouse – the number of all students who took at least some of their courses online grew by more than 350,000, almost 6%. Quietly, the brick and mortar schools that began to offer some online courses were able to make up some the revenue and enrollment they were shedding by attracting what they deemed to be “untraditional” students who, like all students, were addicted to a digital environment.

The proportion of all students who were enrolled exclusively online grew to 15.4% (up from 14.7% in 2016), or about one in six students. The share of all students who mixed online and in-person courses grew slightly faster, to 17.6% in 2017 from 16.4% in 2016. And the proportion of all students who took at least one course online grew to 33.1%, from 31.1% in 2016. And these students weren’t trading the convenience and financial savings of online learning for inferior learning experiences. In fact, a College Board study revealed that 77% of academic leaders though online education was equal to or superior to learning in a physical classroom. More than 69% of chief academic officers believed online learning is a critical part of long-term education strategies. A 2018 study conducted by Learning House, Inc., showed 85% of students who had previously enrolled in both face-to-face and online courses felt their online experience was either the same or better than the classroom course.  That included 37% who felt it was a superior experience.

Yes, brick and mortar schools were moving toward digital learning when the coronavirus hit, but now, they are being forced to completely embrace it just to survive. This virus is projected to be around for as long as 18 months, taking us on a roller coaster ride up and down the “curve” until there are reliable treatments and a vaccine for it. This means schools will close and open sporadically in hot spots. Right now, closed schools are ramping up virtual degrees and learning. There are schools that are already advertising their efforts with phrases like, “don’t let COVID-19 put your career on hold,” or “advance your career from home!” to promote their online expansions. It’s a great start, but brick and mortars need to keep more in mind than just good marketing and advertising to survive the pandemic.

School closures mean the growing list of accredited online colleges and universities have an opportunity to dominate the higher education community. They are already virtual and are hitting the ground running, and since the new reality is going to be some form of  social distancing for the foreseeable future, brick and mortar schools’ students and staff may opt for the very literally safe choice. Will higher education get back to normal at some point? In some ways, no, but that could be a good thing. Digital was always going to be part of the learning environment of the future – home schooling for the young, online degrees for undergrads and grads – but recent events have made the future now. In fall 2017, there were 6,651,536 students enrolled in any distance education courses at degree-granting postsecondary institutions. Also, in 2017, 72% of American organizations said eLearning gave them a competitive advantage. According to researchmarkets.com, the global eLearning market will likely reach $325 billion by 2021.

And before we get too carried away with the virtues of the virtual world, this sheltering in place lifestyle we are living should remind us of the immeasurable  value of in-person social interaction. As good as online schools are, they can’t offer the infrastructure that traditional schools can. Students will go to these traditional schools for the personal attention, sense of community, hands on learning environment and if they see a robust well-staffed online option there. If now, they’ll abandon ship and look for alternatives that offer the best of both worlds. Higher education is at a crossroads. Can it adapt to meet the challenge? Time will tell.

The following is a list of accredited online schools.  These schools are not the same schools featured in our regular top graduate schools list. •